Has anyone had a tummy tuck?

I have had my 2 kids now and i am ready to have a tummy tuck, does anyone out there have any info. How much does it cost? How painful?

Nope but nearly scored a freebee (on account of a breast recon I"m having, they take tissue from your tum and turn it into a bosom :o) :lol:.

Just wanted to pop in and let you know there are some circumstances where you can get it done with a medicare rebate - ie if it's causing you skin problems, if you're left with a nasty post-c/s overhang, if you've lost of a lot of weight, etc. Worth discussing with your gp while you're exploring your options.

^ Does the 'overhang' bit only count for c/s's?? I am, unfortunately, not blessed with good skin elasticity and after two kids my gut is shot - I can feel the muscles underneath the skin are tight (ie toned), but there's a big gap between them where they haven't knitted back together, and I have a huge, saggy, wrinkly flap of skin hanging down over the waistband of my pants. I am dreaming of a tummy tuck but it's so expensive... if I could find a way to save a few thousand bucks (without going to the extent of an 'overseas holiday') DH might be more willing to let me get one :)

I am interested to get one too and once I have got to my goal weight (5kg to go till first goal) then I will look into it more .. I want to be able to maintain the weight I have lost first as well..

My overhang of skin is probably from having a c section from my second child, but i also have wrinkly skin above my belly button from my first, which i am told will be pulled down with a tummy tuck tuck, so they will be smoothed out.I have been to see a Dr Rubenstein and also another place called Corumbyia House. Although Corumbyia House is cheaper $8790.00,and after you get up to $2500 back depending on your health fund, it is only a day stay and you have to go home with drainaige tubes. Dont really like that idea. Dr Rubenstein makes you stay in hospital 3 or more days depending on how you feel and it is just over $10000, but you can get up to $4000 dollars back depending on your the level of your health fund. I am seeing another doctor on the 14th, a friend of mine says he only charges $5000, but i am not just looking at the cost issue. I want to feel 100% comfortable with who I choose. I wont be able to have it done until next year cause im saving. Ive been saving since the beginning of this year $80 a week.

My mum had a tummy tuck & lipo done last week. It's been almost 12 months and she looks fantastic. She's gone from 100kg to 80kg without even doing a great deal. The remaining 10kg she wants to lose she'll have to do on her own. She said it was quite painful afterwards, for about 6-8 weeks. She said the tummy tuck was worst than the lipo for pain. She has the flattest stomach though, it looks awesome. Can't remember how much she paid for it, so I'll get back to you on that one.

Thanks for your response, it gets me more excited to hear great stories like that. She must feel on top of the world now.

she sure does. She's had a weight problem for about 12 years since she started going through menopause.

i am still researching doctors but my plan is to have it next year october, im just not sure with who.

i spoke to one of my mum's friends last night about it and her daughter had it done last year apparently. Don't know by whom though. She said that she was in a lot of pain for some time afterwards. She too said that it looked great post recovery and that when she does gain weight a little her tummy isn't affected by it.
I so can't weight to get it done

Glamourcide- MD is right it's only considered medically required for c/s, obese people, and those who have lost a considerable amount of weight and have excessive over hang.

The price differs by up to 50% depending whether it is medically required or not.

My plastic surgeon said that mine would be $5k given that i had 2 c/s and the other $5k is covered by Medicare. He said though, that private health insurance is a must due to the lengthy stay in hospital following the procedure.

ok, Mum said hers cost about $10k and got $1k back from private health insurance and a little more back from Medicare. She can't remember how much she got back from Medicare. We're in North Qld though, so it's usually a bit more expensive up here than down south.

geez Jodi that's a lot of money. wasn't your mum's op considered to me "medically required"?

She had both lipo and tummy tuck, and part of it was classed as 'medically required'. Only part of it though. In total it cost her $15k.

:o

WOW $15k.

TD, do you know why it's only considered medically required for c/s?? What makes a saggy post-c/s belly different to a saggy post-vaginal-birth belly?

Just wondering as a good friend of mine had a c/s with her son a few weeks before I had DD1 (vaginally) and her belly's in better shape than mine - I know every person is different but I'm just wondering what the logic behind only c/s bellies qualifying for rebates? Is there something in the c/s procedure that does more damage to your abdomen (I mean, obviously, cutting through all that skin and muscle etc, but apart from that), but at the end of the day isn't a tummy tuck for aesthetic purposes?

I think Glam, its cause you get a bit of a depression in the skin where the scar is, and it causes more of a pouch.
I`d be interested to hear if there is some other reason.

A tummy tuck, as such, isn't covered by Medicare. A simple panniculectomy MAY be if the 'overhang' is bad enough to be considered an 'abnormal structure'. This can be from weight loss, or a c/s, but not necessarily only from a c/s. I lost a lot of weight from having lapband surgery and never ever had a c/s, but qualified for Medicare rebates for the panniculectomy portion of my lower body lift because my overhang was bad enough to be qualify for reconstructive surgery.

A panni is a straight cut and remove. There is no 'tightening' of the underlying stomache muscles as you would have with a tummy tuck. You get no tightness in your skin (by pulling the skin down to to flatten the bumps), no body contouring, sometimes you don't even get a new belly button (depending on your surgeon). They cut off the overhang, and sew you back up. Most of a panni is covered by Medicare if your overhang is 'bad' enough, but the end result is not great.

A tummy tuck is more expensive because you're paying for extras over and above a panni. A panni is a straight removal of the 'abnormal structure' but the other stuff associated with getting an upgrade to a tummy tuck is considered 'cosmetic' and therefore does not attract a Medicare rebate. Lipo then costs even more. A lower body lift, like I had, costs the most.

My surgery costs about $26k all up, but after PHI and Medicare rebates, I paid $16k out of pocket. My torso looks better than when I was 18, BUT I have a lot of scars in the exchange. Not that DH seems to mind. :) It was either the scars or lots of excess, hanging skin. I prefer the scars.

Pain wise - it was bearable. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Now, almost 5 months out, I mostly forget I have had the surgery. I would do it again in a second, but the surgery was a complete success, so really, I don't need any more surgery than I've already had. :)

I am not worried about the pain at all, i had a natural birth for my first and cs for my second, i suffered more with the first i was in labour for three days and then took 9 month to recover from it. My stiches down below got infected i couldnt even walk, my scond was a breeze after having an emegancy c/s, i was up the next day. They say a tummy tuck is similiar to a c/s. If thats the case im not worried at all.

Of course it is not considered medically required just because you had a c/s. Like in my other posts, i've said that it could be from weight related probs, weightloss and/or c/s. For me, it is c/s.

Glamourcide - i don't why they would consider a tummy tuck required for those who have had c/s. I didn't even know. I went to my plastic surgeon asking if he would do a tummy tuck at the same time as my boobies but he wouldn't because the op is too long and so is the recovery and the risk of infection can be high and it may also cause more bruising and swelling in my boobies than normal. That's when he asked how i'd delivered my 2 kids and i said via c/s. He then said it would be medically required.
It might be due to the cut, don't know. I personally had thought that it was because of my weightloss.

Sushee - geez, that's a bit crud of the drs not giving people who have had a panni body contouring or tightening of the muscles. That totally sucks. How long has it been since your surgery? Have the scars faded? I agree, i'll have scars over an apron belly anyday.

The apron belly gets me really depressed, as i have about 5kgs to lose of my total 20kg, and i know that at least 3kg of it can be removed with the TT and some lipo around the flanks (love handles)

TD,

yeah it kinda sucks that you don't get tightening with your panni, but I guess there are some people who just don't need it. I saw a chick who'd lost over 50kgs but whose tummy is washboard flat. But she has this overhang on the front of her tummy that could probably do with a snip and remove. I guess a panni would be great for people like that.

As for me, I had my surgery April this year, so it's been about 5 months since I got the work done. My scars are fading nicely but they'll never go away completely, but that's okay. They've 'worn in' now which means they don't pull and look awkward anymore like 'new' scars do. They're soft and pliant, and with clothes on, they're so seamless you wouldn't know they were there.

What size are you now Sushee, if you don't mind me asking? How much weight have you lost. I love all these inspirational weightloss stories.

i'll be hoping to get a regular TT, but i found out there is an endoscopic TT too, where the incision is where a c/s cut is, so the scar is not visible. With the regular TT the scar is visible when you wear bikinis or low rise pants, but who cares as i know the scar will fade to a silvery line given time. I will find out how much price difference there is between a regular TT and an endoscopic TT, but overall if it's quite a difference, i'll just stick with the regular TT.

I bet you feel fantastic and your Dh would love it too :lol: It's amazing how one feels about themselves when they start liking what they see in the mirror.

I'm sitting on a size 8 now, down from a size 20. I lost 37kgs all up. Lapband surgery was a huge success for me. It isn't for everyone, so I was very lucky (plus I worked my butt off! Lol!)

My circumferential body lift scar is quite low down, in that I can wear low rise jeans and bikini bottoms without those scars showing. But I also have a vertical scar running up the front of my tummy so I'll never wear a bikini again. :) But a regular one-piece swimsuit covers everything.

As for DH, the weight loss actually hasn't changed anything for him tbh. Lol! Size 20 or size 8, he treats me exactly the same way, which is actually nice because I think if he started paying me more attention because I was thinner, I guess I would feel like he never really found me attractive when I was more voluptous. :) But he has always said he would love me no matter what I looked like, and he's true to his word!

So for me, not much as changed, except that I just found a whole new love for shopping!

Size 8 sushee, well done! What an amazing effort.:clap:

Wow, Sushee, what an amazing effort!! Congratulations :) I bet you feel fabulous when you look at the mirror and see all that hard work has paid off :) Good on you.
Thanks for the info you posted earlier, that cleared up a bit of confusion for me :)

...still going to see if I can convince my GP that it's 'medically required' hehehe :) Maybe I could qualify for the weight loss bit too, I've lost 25kg since I had DD1 (put a bit back on with DD2 but lost it again, thankfully) and obviously that's affected my body too. My 'wishlist' consists mainly of tummy tuck/lipo around the hips/waist, getting my 'bingo wings' cut off (I have awful, sagging upper arms and again, the muscles beneath are doing fine, it's excess skin and a small layer of fat that I'm still getting rid of), and maybe tucking that loose skin on my neck/chin up.

But thankyou for your experiences, I have no set date for all this in mind as yet but every bit of information I can get on the subject is going to be useful someday!!

I have had one about 5 years ago... will go and dig the file out of my cabinet and give you a guide on the costs...
It was the best thing I ever did, I will have to dig out my before and after pic's too, you just wouldn't believe it's the same person.
Pain, well, yep it was quite painful but as you would suspect with having all of the tummy muscles being yanked around and stitched up again. I vomitted heaps from the anesthetic too and really added to the pain.
In all, I stayed 1 night in hossie but I should have stayed another I think cause I was very sore and unable to look after myself. I had the drains in overnight and had them removed the next morning, same as a catheter..
Oh, do try and time it right with AF, :rolleyes: I got mine really badly the day before surgery and couln't go to the loo myself and then had a bit of trouble when I got home too.
I wore a corset kind of thing for 2 weeks and visited my surgeon each week and then a month after too.
I felt very comfortable with my surgeon and was recommened him by a friend who had the same procedure.
Ummm, that's all I can think of atm, will have to get the doc's out for the $$ and get back to you... feel free to ask any other questions too

It great to hear so many different stories, its nice to know im not the only one. Everyone in my family seem to thing im crazy for wanting to get a tummy tuck, but i know i will never be happy until i get one.:lol:

Sushee. OMG. That is fantastic and well done girl. You are amazing. I struggle to lose the last 5kgs. You have inspired and motivated me, so thanks for your story.:hug: Wow, what a big difference. Do you still have the lapband in place?

As horrible as it may sound, i'd love to have lapband too. I can't maintain the weight which is my problem. I was telling a friend that i was a size 6 before i got married through diet and exercise but i couldn't maintain it as i am a "fat" girl. I felt like a fat girl stuck inside a skinny person's body.

Your DH sounds like a gem. My Dh is like that too, he's seen me in all shapes and sizes over the past 10 years. But i do think he still prefers the skinny me and so do i, but i can't maintain it :wall:

Glamourcide - i watched on Dr 90210 a lady who had lost a considerable amount of weight and she had really saggy arms due to excess skin and the surgery was great but she was left with a long scar on the inside of her arms where they cut off the skin.

Thanks Sue ;)

My lapband will stay in me forever, or until it stops working (as it does for some people). If it ever stops working, I will revise to another weight loss surgery because my history clearly demonstrates that my problem has always been with portion control, not lack of exercise nor because I pig out on fatty foods (as a lot of people seem to think 'fat' people do: that all we do is eat chips and ice cream). I always ate well and exercised, but I ate too much, because I was always hungry. The lapband stops the hunger, so the weight fell off.

Losing weight was never an issue for me, it was keeping it off that was something I couldn't do. Because to keep it off, you need to fight your hunger every day, and I couldn't do that for the rest of my life. And it isn't like smoking - you stop smoking and that's it, you never have to go near a cigarette again. You can't stop eating - 3 times a day you have to eat, so it's easy to be tempted to eat too much. No wonder so many people fail at dieting! You're exepected to overcome your 'addiction' despite having to partake in it 3 times a day!

But the lapband is no magic bullet trust me. You're only expected to lose 50% of your excess weight on it. I was lucky and lost 120% of my excess weight (taking me under the goal weight my dr set for me). But I exercised like a demon for the whole time, and ate VERY well. I worked my lapband to make it work for me.

But the thing the band does that no diet has done is helped me keep it off. I don't exercise much these day (only for fun) and I eat a relatively varied diet (including the occasional ice-cream :) ) and am not putting any weight on. That's because I only eat about 3 cups of food for the entire day. It's all I can fit in. :)

Sounds like me. I can never maintain it. Losing it is the easy bit. i am hungry and i just love eating. I love the taste and texture of food in my mouth.

My DS has the same problem. The paediatrician told us yesterday he needs to shed 10kgs. He loves eating and is always hungry.

You've done well Soosh.

my problem is too many coffees and snacking on choclates when im in front of the tv. I lack motivation for exercise, im alway making excuses that i dont have time. Its great that you have been able to shed so much. I used to have motivation but ive just given up.

Hi everyone,

Am finding this thread very interesting. I have an overhang that has gotten worse with each pg and each subsequent weight loss. I am currently in weight loss mode yet again and aiming to loose between 30-35kg. My plan is to have a tummy tuck in about 12mths time (let me loose the weight and finish breastfeeding DS2 first). I don't care about having a washboard flat tummy (but won't knock that back) but rather just get rid of the overhang so I can wear dresses again, or wear undies and be able to see them without having to tuck myself in.

I am willing to pay whatever the cost might be, but I do have q's in regards to medicare rebate and also private health insurance. I am not covered by private health insurance and am wondering if it is worth it, does it cover much of the cost of this proceedure?? Also, how long is it to be expected to stay in hospital for after a tummy tuck?? and is this cost subsidised by medicare or private health insurance??

Does anyone have the answers to these things or know where i can get them?

Whether medicare will cover it will depend on whether the surgery is classed as medically necessary. If it is, medicare will cover part of the cost of the surgery, the anaesthetist and medication. PHI (if your policy covers it) will cover for the hospital stay and theatre fees.

A tummy tuck is around $6000 - $8000 out-of-pocket AFTER medicare rebate (if you are assessed as of medical need and get item numbers) and you can expect to stay 1-3 days in hospital - more if there are complications. Without PHI, you will need to pay for the hospital stay and theatre yourself. Without item numbers, you'll pay for everything yourself.

Also be aware that sometimes surgery doesn't go perfectly to plan. If you get a great result first time, wonderful. But always make sure you speak to your doctor about revision surgery if you need it, and who bears the cost of that.

So all and all, there isn't a good way of finding out what it's going to cost you without consulting with a plastic surgeon. My surgeon is a plastic/reconstructive surgeon, and my surgery was classed as reconstructive (if you saw my 'before' pictures, you'd understand why!)

thanks for that. :)

I am pretty sure that my problem is severe enough to be classed as reconstructive, but am willing to pay the extra cost if not.

So now I should perhaps start researching PHI. Who were you with??

I'm with HBF (WA-based PHI company, I believe), but they recently stopped covering hospital and theatre fees for purely cosmetic procedures (i.e. surgery without item numbers). It's worth noting when doing research JIC it turns out your surgery doesn't end up having item number(s) allocated to it.

Also be aware that if you are losing weight, many surgoens will insist on you getting to goal and maintaining for 6 - 12 months prior to performing surgery. This isn't always the case (esp if you're self pay) but if you're wanting item numbers, you may find that they will put conditions on it.

This is mainly to ensure that you don't regain right after surgery and 'wreck' the effect of the work done and/or it may be that if you're still in weight loss mode when you get initial surgery and then go on to lose more, then revision surgery may be needed.

Just something to keep in mind.